Mackie d8b Helps Broadcast Jazz at Lincoln Center

Grand opening celebration televised live on PBS throughout North America
(November 18, 2004)

The long-awaited new home of Jazz at Lincoln Center was unveiled last month as part of a three week grand opening celebration that was televised live on PBS and broadcast throughout North America with a little help from a Mackie Digital 8 Bus.

The $128 million Frederick P. Rose Hall, a 100,000 square foot palace occupying two floors of the new Time-Warner building in New York's Columbus Circle, is the first performance and education facility designed specifically for jazz, and features three acoustically designed live venues. "This is really the first time a performing arts center has been designed with jazz being the primary form of music to be presented and performed," stated Derek Gordon, Executive Director of the JALC organization.

The grand opening ceremonies featured three simultaneous programs in its three spaces. The flagship Frederick P. Rose Hall hosted performances by the JALC Orchestra, featuring Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis directing a tribute to Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Performances by Arturo O'Farrill and special guests inaugurated the elegant Allen Room, which features Greek amphitheater-inspired architecture and a 90-foot by 50-foot glass wall overlooking Manhattan. The intimate Dizzy's Club was ushered in by the Bill Charlap Trio with guests Peter Washington and Kenny Washington.

The opening night's festivities were broadcast live on PBS and NPR, with host Ed Bradley moving from venue to venue as the evening progressed. Veteran mix engineer Ed Green oversaw the broadcast, which represented a number of technical challenges. "We set up a Mackie d8b on the ground floor, taking live feed from over 150 microphones on the 5th floor," Green recounts. "We followed Ed Bradley to each room, broadcasting a few songs from each show before moving on to the next."

In addition to the TV broadcast, radio network NPR was broadcasting each of the three shows in its entirety. In the two larger venues, the NPR live feed was mixed through two Mackie 32x8 analog mixers. "The mix in each room was great, and we probably could have just taken a feed from each room, but we were much happier with the control and flexibility we had with direct feeds from each microphone," Green remarked. "The Mackie d8b allowed me to set up multiple mixes and routing configurations. There's simply no way we could have handled such a complex scenario without it. It was certainly a first, broadcasting such a technically complex show live, but it was well worth it."

The only live performing arts series on television, LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER is produced by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., in association with PBS. The series has been broadcasting since 1976, has been recognized with numerous awards including ten Emmys and 51 Emmy nominations, two Grammys, two Peabody Awards and a Television Critics' Circle Award.

About Mackie Mackie, a LOUD Technologies Inc. brand, is known worldwide as a leading developer and marketer of high-quality, affordable professional audio systems. Mackie products can be found in professional and project recording studios, video and broadcast suites, post production facilities, sound reinforcement applications including churches and nightclubs, retail locations and on major musical tours.